Hanoi prepares roadmap to revoke outdated motorbikes

Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Committee has proposed a roadmap to
revoke outdated motorbikes that discharge harmful substances into the
environment.

Figures
from the Ministry of Public Security’s Traffic Police Department showed that by
last December, there had been more than 49 million registered motorbikes
operating nationwide.

In Hanoi alone,
more than 5.2 million motorbikes were operating, half of which were reported to
have been manufactured in the nineties.

Outdated
motorbikes are believed to one of the many causes of accidents. Research
conducted by the National Committee of Traffic Safety last year showed that
there was a connection between the age of vehicles and the number of
traffic-related accidents. The risk of accidents for those who ride motorbikes
in use for less than five years was lower than those who ride motorbikes used
for at least 10 years.

Motorbikes
are the main means of transport for people in the city, meeting nearly 90 percent
of transportation demand.

However,
motorbikes discharge a large amount of emissions.

Although they only consume 56 percent of petrol, they discharged 94 percent of
hydrocarbon, 87 percent of carbon monoxide and 57 percent of nitrogen oxide of
the total emissions from motor vehicles.

So far,
there is no regulation on how long a vehicle can be in use.

In many countries, the inspection of emission
discharge of motorbikes in use for more than five years was compulsory, it said.

The committee has admitted to the slow implementation of inspecting motorbikes’
emissions, explaining that it was a complicated and sensitive issue as most of
the owners of these outdated vehicles were low-income earners.

The committee has proposed a series of policies
such as collecting environmental fees through the evaluation of environmental
stamps stuck on the vehicles and revoking worn-out motorbikes discharging
excessive amount of emissions.

Under the roadmap, from now until June 30, 2018, Hanoi
will re-examine and list the number of motorbikes and for how long they have
been in use, complete legal documents on technical criteria, set up emission
discharge testing centres and train specialised staff.

Between
next July and December 31, 2019, the city will conduct emission discharge
tests on motorbikes with cylinder capacity of more than 175cu.cm and revoke
worn-out vehicles.

From 2020, the city will revise the implementation
of the roadmap and report the results to the Government. It will also inspect
motorbikes with cylinder capacity of less than 175cu.cm.

The city has proposed that the Government ask the
Ministry of Transport to build a legal document stating criteria on emission
testing of motorbikes, criteria on conditions for emission discharge testing
service and penalties for vehicle owners who flout rules.

The Ministry of Public Security will be in charge
of deterring violators and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for
allocating funds for inspection and creating supportive policies for the
replacement of old motorbikes.-VNA